Bee-hive



. (No Model.)

W. P. HAMLIN.

BBB HIVE.

No. 330,478. Patented Nov, 17, 1885.

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STATES WILLIAM P. HAMLIN, OF ROGERS, ARKANSAS.

BEE-HIVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 330,%78, dated November17, 1885.

Application filed July 15, 1885.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM P. HAMLIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Rogers, in the county of Benton and State of Arkansas, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Bee-Hives, of which thefollowing :is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings.

My invention relates to an improvement in bee-hives; and it consists inthe peculiar construction and combination of devices that will be morefully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a beehiveembodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same,and Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken at right angles to Fig. 2.

A represents the end boards of the hive, which are provided on theirouter sides with the metallic battens B. These end boards have flanges Gon their inner sides at their edges, as shown.

D represents a series of hon ey-frames, which are of the usualconstruction and which equal in width the space between the flanges ofthe end boards. These frames are provided at their outer sides, neartheir lower ends, with keepers E. Dowel-pins F project from one side ofeach of the honey-frames and enter openings made in the opposing side ofthe adjoining frame. The frames are placed side by side,and the endboards are placed one on each end of the series of frames, and areclamped thereto by means of screw-threaded rods G, that pass through thebattens and on the outer sides or ends of the frames and through thekeepers thereon. By this construction it will be readily understood thatthe hive is composed of the end boards and the frames clamped together,the sides of the hive being formed by the vertical end bars of theframes.

It has been the common practice heretofore in the construction ofbee-hives to make an outer case or hive and to suspend or place thehoney-frames therein. This manner of constructing the hives isdisadvantageous, for the reason that the bees, following their instinct,deposit wax in the cracks or spaces between the ends of the frames andthe sides of the hive, and thereby render it difficult to remove theframes Serial No. 171,708. (No model.)

from the hive, as the wax must be first out or broken before doing so;and, moreover, the time thus spent by the bees is wasted, thus entailinga loss upon the bee-keeper. In my hive the sides are formed by thejoined ends of the frames, and consequently the bees proceed directly tofill the frames and do not waste their efforts.

In the lower edge of one of the end boards are out notches H, to admitthe bees to the hive, and the bottom bars of the frames are at asuitable distance above the lower edges of the hive, thus leaving achamber, 1, below the frames. The bottom and top bars of the frames Dare narrowed, leaving spaces between the frames for the ready passage ofthe bees. These frames D extend about two-thirds the height of the endboards, and above the lower frames, D,are placed aseries of smallerframes, K, between the end boards, which form a honey-chamber for thestorage of surplus honey, the lower frames, D,constituting thebroodchamber. The frames K are slightly shorter than the spaces betweenthe flanges G of the end boards, and on the ends of these frames,between them and the flanges G, are slipped end boards, L, which formthe outer sides of the surplus-honey chamber. Above the hive is placed acap or cover, M, having a depending flange that fits closely around thesides and ends of the hive. Knobs N project from the outer sides of thesliding boards L, to facilitate in removing them in order to expose theframes K.

When it is desired to take the hive apart for the purpose of collectingthe honey, dividing the bees'into two or more swarms, or to exterminatemoths,the cap and slides L are first removed, and then the bee-keeper,by means of a smoker, drives the bees from the honey-chamber down intothe brood-chamber, when the honey-frames K are removed anda bee-trap ofsuitable construction (which is not here'shown or'described, as it formsno part of this invention) is placed on the upper side of the frames D.The bees are then driven up from the brood-chamber into the trap, andthe latter, containing the bees, is removed. The hive is then taken topieces by unscrewing the rods G and taking off one of the end boards,which exposes the interior of the brood-chamber, and the frames D canthen be removed one by one, as will be very readily understood.

In order to separate the bees to prevent them from swarming,and to stocka new hive, one-half of the frames D, containing one-half of the youngbrood and a queen-cell, are re moved and placed in a new hive and theirplaces filled with empty frames. The bees in the trap are then dividedand the queen bee and halfthe bees areput back in the old hive, when thebees will go to work immediately as though nothing had happened. Theremaining half of the bees are introduced into the new hive containing aportion of the young brood and the queen-cell.

A bee-hive thus constructed is exceedingly cheap and simple, is easilytaken care of, and renders very remunerative returns to the beekeeper.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. A beehive composed ofthe end boards, A, having flanges O, the frames D, forming thebroodchamber and clamped between the end boards, the frames K aboveframes D frames D, having the keepers E on their outer I sides, the endboards, A, and the screw-rods passed through the end boards,and thekeepers for clamping the frames and end boards together, substantiallyas described.

3. The combination in a bee-hive, of the end boards, the framesD,clamped between them to form the-brood-chamber, the frames K above thebrood-chamber and communicating therewith, to form the surplus-honeychamber, and the slides L between the end boards on the ends of thesurplus honey-chamber, to permit access to the latter, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereuntoaflixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM P. HAMLIN.

Witnesses:

J. WADE SIKEs, JOHN W. PHELEN.

